It is DAY 786 ! 786 being the most sacred number in Islam and among Muslims. Bahut hi paak mana jata hai ! Before beginning anything new, 786 has always been imprinted on the top. And of course closer home, I can never forget the 786 badge of ‘Deewar’ and the Coolie Number in ‘Coolie’. I have never been able to discover how this came about or what its significance developed in the world of Muslims, but if there are a few friends reading in, I would be most obliged if I could be educated on this. So ‘786′ in all its purity and sacred presence in our bloglife, and the hope and prayer that it would bring to us all the blessings of its value to mankind. May we live together and exist in harmony and peace and with respectful dignity. This is our prayer and our strong wish. Inshallah !! Leaving Paris in the morning was harsh. Leaving any place always is. We build our little nests wherever we go, decorate it, get acclimatized to it and then one fine day all has to be put away and we shift and leave. I have found this phenomena most disturbing for women. The woman has always been the nomad. She is born in her parents home, and lives and believes that this is her place in permanence. Then one day she decides to get married and leaves this home to occupy another, which now becomes her permanent abode. It is to me the most heart wrenching moment in the life of a girl when she has to abandon her Father’s place to accept and believe that where she had been for all these years had indeed been a temporary reside. Her new home, the home she moves in with her husband, the one where she brings her children to, is now her real home. And how quickly and sincerely she will go about in accepting this fact. This place she builds with the most care and love and remains with it till her dyeing days. This now is her family, her nest. This she gives her all to. She protects it like the lioness in a pride of lions, builds its walls and rooms with the utmost care for harmony and peace and fulfillment. Brings up her ‘cubs’ in that environment that she has built, nurtures her dreams for the young ones and the one she has accepted as her man and lives for the rest of her life thus - bonded, devoted and linked for life. That is some dedication. I watch Jaya at times when she checks in to a Hotel away from home. She will convert that little space that is her room albeit for a few days, into her little home. It does not remain another rented facility for her, it becomes her home for those few days. It is the instinct of the woman that coerces them to behave in such manner. It is the one quality that differentiates them from the men. With so much time and energy devoted to the place, is it any wonder then that moving away from it is like separating a portion of your body along with it ? I do not question the wife when there are decorative and design decisions to be taken with respect to the home. I leave it to her. This is her territory, her domain, her all. She must be the builder then and we the supporters. Men may think on this with a sense of practicality, woman will think on this from an emotion. At times it all seems impractical and not in keeping with what we want it to be, but when you look at it from their point of view, it all falls into place. Home is where the heart is. The woman constructs that heart and never will allow it to be disturbed or to be subjected to pain. Give in then to this great quality of theirs. For, you are not in fact giving in. You are giving in to her heart, to her home, which to her is everything. Men have their jobs, their profession, their golf, their football games. But at the end of the day they come back to their home. It is a place that they would never substitute. Abhishek and Aishwarya have flown in just this evening after hectic and tiring procedures being conducted for the promotions on ‘Raavan’, and it was such a delight to be all together again. Took them out to dinner, caught up on events and times, laughed, went back on time when Abhishek and Shweta were little kids. Narrated to the ‘bahu’ the brattish antics of her husband when he was small, when in walked Rishi and Neetu Kapoor for dinner at the same restaurant. Rishi is shooting for a film here and we talk of old times, of the numerous fun times had on the sets of the films we did together, both with Rishi and Neetu. They are now my relatives as you all know - Rishi’s sister’s son is married to my daughter Shweta. We compliment them on Ranbir and his latest release ‘Raajniti’, they compliment us on Abhishek and ‘Raavan’. We all live in a compact world. Goodness ! The number of films done together - AmarAkbarAnthony, Naseeb, Coolie, Kabhi Kabhi. And with Neetu - Great Gambler, Adaalat, Kabhi Kabhi, Yarana … memories of some great movies and their makers .. And then on to tomorrow, to ‘Raavan’ to the premier at British Film Institute, South Bank and then back to Mumbai and ‘home’… The heart calleth .. and home it shall be soon !! Amitabh Bachchan